Kitaro

Kitaro (喜多郎) was born in February 4, 1953 as Masanori Takahashi (高橋正則) in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, as the son of shintoistic farmers. His pseudonym "Kitaro" was given later by friends because of a Japanese television cartoon character.

Biography

Early life

In Highschool he loved Soul and Rhythm & Blues. He learned playing E-Guitar and performed with his band "Albatross" on parties and in clubs. His biggest influence in this time was Otis Redding. "Rhythm and blues has a kind a depth, emotions how can I say it? The audience feels something like same kind of emotions from my music. My music is not rhythm and blues, but it feels like soul."

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In the early '70s he changed completely to keyboards. He joined the band "Far East Family Band" and toured with them around the world. In Europe he met the german synthesizer musician and Tangerine Dream cofounder Klaus Schulze. Schulze produced two albums for the band and gave Kitaro some tips for the use of synthesizers.

Related Topics:
Tangerine Dream - Klaus Schulze

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In 1976 he left the band and travelled through Asia (China, Laos, Thailand, India).

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Solo career

Back in Japan Kitaro started his solo career in 1977. The first two albums Ten Kai and From the Full Moon Story became cult favorites of fans of the nascent New Age movement. But it was his famous soundtrack for the NHK series "Silk Road" which brought him the international attention.

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He struck a worldwide distribution arrangement with Geffen Records in 1986; in 1987 he collaborated with different musicians, e.g. with Micky Hart (Grateful Dead) and Jon Anderson (Yes) and his record sales soared to 10 million worldwide. Besides he was nominated twice for a Grammy and his soundtrack (for the movie "Heaven & Earth") won a 1994 award for best original score. His biggest musical success was the Grammy Award 2001 for his album Thinking of You

Related Topics:
Grateful Dead - Yes - Grammy

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